Can we bench the whole outfield?

[CyHawk_Cub]

There's not a single legitimate starting-caliber major league outfielder on the roster.

 

Fukudome: 10th in the majors in wOBA for all center fielders this year with at least 200 PAs. Ahead of Ellsbury, Bossman Jr, Sizemore, Rasmus, Vernon Wells, and about 15 others. Guess they all need to get sent down too.

 

Soriano: Near the bottom, but honestly, what are you going to do? Bench him and miss one of his hot streaks? Let's face it, the guy carries your team for 2 week stretches over the course of the season and doesn't do much for you otherwise. We got him for 5 more years, let's make sure he's really done before sticking a fork in what could still be a productive player.

 

Bradley: 368 OBP in the month of June, 408 in the last 14 days. Oh by the way, his career OPS in the month of July is 924, next highest is 829. Let's not write him off yet either.

 

Yeah, I know that might seem like cherry picking stats, but come on, by definition there are 90 starting caliber outfielders in baseball at any given time. You're telling me none of these guys crack the top 90? Two guys with with 875+ OPSs last year and a guy who's been above average offensively in center this year (not to mention his plus defense)?

 

Yes, they're overpaid. By a lot. Yes, it absolutely sucks watching this team right now, and Soriano is my least favorite Cub in recent memory. But there's not much we can do about it now. We don't have a lot of places where we can improve and we don't have a lot of pieces that we can use to improve with. But let's not pretend this is some "worst team in baseball situation" with how incredibly good our pitching has been and how miserable the rest of our division is.

 

I mean, at the end of July 2003, we were one game over 500, and that's been our best chance to win the WS in a long time. We did that with superior pitching, we've been hanging in there so far with superior pitching. Benching guys with really good track records for what have been career minor leaguers (Hoff, Fox) is questionable enough, calling to bench them for the likes of Fuld and Taguchi is plain laughable.

 

All of that makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit neatly with the current reactionary, tar & feather feeling amongst NSBB board members... I read with interest all the trade ideas, as if this team could actually be improved to the level expected with a couple quick moves. This team/franchise is fundamentally flawed, and it ain't gonna be fixed w/ a couple of trades/benchings. We're just gonna have to ride this out fellas, and it's gonna be largely painful barring hot streaks from aging guys who have admittedly shown the ability to do so in the past.

[Larry Horse]

At this point the only guy I'm worried about is Soriano. Kosuke has been hanging in there, still getting on base, etc... and I think Bradley is gonna hit. Just a hunch. I think we probably couldn't go wrong with Fox/Johnson/Hoffpair, though.

 

LOL, love the eternal Bradley optimism!

 

He's never finished a season with an OPS this low (save for his first couple of years in the majors), yet he's always had injury issues.

 

Why is it that he won't rebound this year? The likelihood is that he'll rebound to right around his career averages, but won't begin to come near the lofty numbers of the past two seasons.

 

Is there a clear reason why it's certain he won't do that?

 

Here's the only thing I can come up with on Bradley: Mental.

 

As far as I can remember, he's never come into a situation where he's the "big left-handed bat" a team has been counting on. He was very comfortable in Texas and walked into a Chicago situation he was not mentally ready for. His behavioral issues should be a surprise to no one. He told Hendry what he wanted to hear and the checkbook was pulled out.

[dew1679666265]

At this point the only guy I'm worried about is Soriano. Kosuke has been hanging in there, still getting on base, etc... and I think Bradley is gonna hit. Just a hunch. I think we probably couldn't go wrong with Fox/Johnson/Hoffpair, though.

 

LOL, love the eternal Bradley optimism!

 

He's never finished a season with an OPS this low (save for his first couple of years in the majors), yet he's always had injury issues.

 

Why is it that he won't rebound this year? The likelihood is that he'll rebound to right around his career averages, but won't begin to come near the lofty numbers of the past two seasons.

 

Is there a clear reason why it's certain he won't do that?

 

Here's the only thing I can come up with on Bradley: Mental.

 

As far as I can remember, he's never come into a situation where he's the "big left-handed bat" a team has been counting on. He was very comfortable in Texas and walked into a Chicago situation he was not mentally ready for. His behavioral issues should be a surprise to no one. He told Hendry what he wanted to hear and the checkbook was pulled out.

 

You may be on to something, but he was acquired by the Padres at the deadline as the "big bat" that would push them into the playoffs.

 

He ended up injured, but while healthy he OPSd 1.004.

[CyHawk_Cub]

At this point the only guy I'm worried about is Soriano. Kosuke has been hanging in there, still getting on base, etc... and I think Bradley is gonna hit. Just a hunch. I think we probably couldn't go wrong with Fox/Johnson/Hoffpair, though.

 

LOL, love the eternal Bradley optimism!

 

He's never finished a season with an OPS this low (save for his first couple of years in the majors), yet he's always had injury issues.

 

Why is it that he won't rebound this year? The likelihood is that he'll rebound to right around his career averages, but won't begin to come near the lofty numbers of the past two seasons.

 

Is there a clear reason why it's certain he won't do that?

 

Here's the only thing I can come up with on Bradley: Mental.

 

As far as I can remember, he's never come into a situation where he's the "big left-handed bat" a team has been counting on. He was very comfortable in Texas and walked into a Chicago situation he was not mentally ready for. His behavioral issues should be a surprise to no one. He told Hendry what he wanted to hear and the checkbook was pulled out.

 

You may be on to something, but he was acquired by the Padres at the deadline as the "big bat" that would push them into the playoffs.

 

He ended up injured, but while healthy he OPSd 1.004.

 

Obviously though, the "pressure" in San Diego cannot be compared to what must be felt on Clark & Addison

[dew1679666265]

Obviously though, the "pressure" in San Diego cannot be compared to what must be felt on Clark & Addison

 

I'm not prepared to say he's choking or can't handle pressure. He's just having a bad season.